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[by Jeremy P]
Announcing the return of the European soccer season!
It’s time once again for soccer. The European soccer season is back with one of the biggest and most magnificent soccer leagues of the world, EPL (a.k.a. Barclays Premier League). The 2015-16 season of the EPL has officially started as of August 11, with the kickoff of the match between West Bromwich Albion and Manchester City. In order to become the champion of the league, 20 teams will be competing against each other in 38 rounds in a total of 285 days, fighting amongst themselves with the support of more than 4 billion fans from around the world. This article will analyze the final standings of the 20 teams in the league, and identify new transfers to focus on for the 15-16 season in order to make it entertaining for all.
Prediction of Final Rankings:
Final standings, 2014-15:
- Chelsea (overall champion)
- Manchester City (Qualified for Champions League)
- Arsenal (Qualified for Champions League)
- Manchester United (Qualified for Champions League)
- Tottenham Hotspur (Qualified for Europa League)
- Liverpool (Qualified for Europa League)
- Southampton (Qualified for Europa League)
- Swansea City
- Stoke City
- Crystal Palace
- Everton
- West Ham United
- West Bromwich Albion
- Leicester City
- Newcastle United
- Sunderland
- Aston Villa
- Hull City (Relegated from championship)
- Burnley (Relegated from championship)
- QPR (Queens Park Rangers) (Relegated from championship)
Predictions, 2015-16:
- Manchester City (overall champion)
- Chelsea (Qualified for Champions League)
- Manchester United (Qualified for Champions League)
- Arsenal (Qualified for Champions League)
- Liverpool (Qualified for Europa League)
- Tottenham Hotspur (Qualified for Europa League)
- Swansea City (Qualified for Europa League)
- Southampton
- Crystal Palace
- Stoke City
- Everton
- West Ham United
- West Bromwich Albion
- Leicester City
- Sunderland
- Newcastle United
- Norwich City
- Watford (Relegated from championship)
- Aston Villa (Relegated from championship)
- AFC Bournemouth (Relegated from championship)
Preview of the top four:
The second, third and fourth teams in the final standings will be Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal. Chelsea will end up second, after a disappointing season compared to their last. Manchester United will end up third, which will be a disappointing result considering the money they spent during the summer transfer window to buy players. Arsenal, who ended in the top 4 during 15 consecutive years, will once again finish in the top 4, but will end up fourth, and not be able to win a major trophy. These 4 teams were in the top 4 during the 2014-15 season and will stay on the top this season, once again qualifying for the Champions League. (Teams in the top 4 standings of the league qualify for the Champions League.)Above are two tables giving a basic overview of the rankings last season, and my basic prediction of the final standings for the 2015-16 season. In my prediction, the winner of this season will be Manchester City, who should manage to win the season with relative ease. After a fairly easy season, Manchester City will bring back the EPL championship trophy to their own Etihad Stadium, 2 years after the 2013-14 season. Manchester City made a substantial improvement to its roster by bringing in forward Raheem Sterling from Liverpool, defender Nicholas Otamendi from Valencia, and midfield Kevin De Bruyne from Wolfsburg, upgrading all three roles. This bonus to their roster will enhance the team’s overall balance and increase its depth, giving them a chance to reduce injuries on the team.
Preview of the teams below the top four, and those likely to be relegated:
Right under the top 4 of the Premier League will be the teams that have the potential to be in the top 4 at the end of the season, but lack the skill because of several problems. The two teams that have the most strength to potentially enter the top 4 are Tottenham and Liverpool. Although these two teams will most likely qualify for the Europa League along with Swansea City or Southampton, they also have a chance to qualify for the Champions League, if only Liverpool can score more goals or Tottenham can maintain a strong defense.
After these two teams will be Swansea City, who will have a tremendous season and end up at the highest standing in team history after they first experienced the EPL starting in 2011. With its great midfield line and newly acquired Andre Ayew, Swansea will become one of the great passing teams in the league. Ending right beneath Swansea City will be Southampton, who lost 2 key players in the transfer window: Schniederlin and Clyne. They will fill up their places like they did a year ago, when they lost 3 key players but still ended up in seventh place by finding an alternative to each of them. Southampton may have a hard time at the outset of the season, but will solve the problem like they do every year. As seventh place will be the last place to qualify for the Europa league, Southampton and Swansea will have a fierce clash to earn the spot.
The teams that will end up in ninth and tenth places will be Crystal Palace and Stoke City, who both bought key cornerstones of their teams, such as Cabaye and Shaqiri, in order to qualify for the Europa league. Although both teams have the ambition to reach the Europa League, both teams will be satisfied by these results because they will end up in a higher place than last season, and can take it as step in the right direction. The standings after Stoke City will be, in order, West Ham United, West Bromwich Albion, Leicester City, Sunderland, Newcastle United, Norwich City, Watford, Aston Villa and Bournemouth. Most of the teams at the bottom of the standings will be teams without much money who are striving to stay in the league since they can earn significant profits by remaining. Their goal will be to stay out of the bottom 3 places in the league standings.
Important signings in the transfer market:
- Pedro Rodriguez, from Barcelona to Chelsea (Midfielder, 28, Spain)
Pedro is a versatile Spanish midfielder playing in Chelsea. He was bought from Barcelona this summer. He is able to dribble past defenders, pass the ball exceptionally well, defend the attacker, and most of all control the ball even when surrounded by number of defenders. As one of the most world-class players transferred during this summer’s transfer window, he will be able to offer the team more options on attack and make Chelsea a more dangerous team offensively.
- Memphis Depay (Midfielder, 21, Netherland)
As the top scorer of the Netherland League in PSV Eindhoven last year at the age of 21, Memphis Depay is a prospect to watch this season, having been bought by Manchester United for a total of £27 million. He is currently looked on with high expectations from many United fans. As a talented and fast dribbler, Depay received the number 7 back number, which shows that the club is expecting a lot from Depay this season. Although it might take some time to show his reliability on the new team, the great abilities he showed in PSV and on the Netherland national team make Depay will one of the best youngsters and prospects to watch closely this season.
- Raheem Sterling (Midfield, 21, England)
Playing in Liverpool last season, Raheem Sterling was the best player and the ace for the team. Although fans had high expectations for him and expected a good season in 2015-16, he went away to rival club Manchester City, betraying many Liverpool fans’ wishes. The transfer fee was recorded at £49 million: this shows how high the expectations of Manchester City are for his skills. He will have a great season among the great midfield line of Man City, and because he is also young, at age 21, he will be able to improve his skills even more in the following years.
- Christian Benteke (Forward, 24, Belgium)
Playing for Aston Villa last season and scoring a total of 15 goals, Benteke moved to Liverpool in this season’s summer transfer window in an attempt to help Liverpool solve its problem with scoring. Benteke will become the solution to Liverpool’s problems and may help Liverpool end up in the top 4 at the end of the season.
- Yohan Cabaye (Midfield, 29, France)
Previously having played in PSG, Yohan Cabaye came back to the EPL after spending a year in the French league as a backup player. Previously playing in Newcastle United, Cabaye was regarded as one of the best central midfielders in the league, as a great passer and free-kicker. Now at Crystal Palace, Cabaye will use his ability to add more creativity and spread passes to help facilitate Palace’s offense, which is based on its wing plays. Based on how well Cabaye plays, Crystal Palace may be able to jump up in the standings.
- Dimitri Payet (Midfield, 28, France)
The transfer of Payet is considered a quite decent transfer by Aston Villa after they lost their top scorer, Benteke. Payet, who is an attacking midfielder that can make great opportunities with his creativity and great dribbling ability, will be the key factor in determining where Aston Villa will end up at the end of the season.
Concluding:
More than a month into the season, the start of the teams is quite different. Some teams are having a great beginning, and some teams are having their worst start in their club’s history. However, anything is possible in soccer: which teams might have different runs throughout the season and improve or become worse, which can be linked to many factors. So throughout the season, many unexpected events could lead my predictions to be wrong.
It’s an important thing to cheer for the team you support and stay up with the latest news of the team. Whether your team is an underdog or the best in the league, it doesn’t matter in the EPL! You never know whether the underdog or the advantaged will be the winner of the fight, as there is a saying that goes: “The ball is round.” For an amazing and entertaining season of EPL soccer, stay up with the 270-day race every day and make sure to give full support and cheer for the team you love the most!
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